Bharati Mukherjee employs the importance of names, the
importance of the sign, signifier, and the referent. Throughout this novel,
Mukherjee frequently provides names as symbols of irony and confrontation.
A few examples include:
“Comes from the Old English. Slaughter Field,” he offers,
uninvited. Page 9.
Irony in names: Mr. Abraham talking about “Other” but that
is the irony, because of the monotheistic history of Abraham.
“Rebecca Easton was dead, she must have taken a Nipmuc name.
Hannah Easton Fitch Legge was dying.
As the novel continues, the reader must be acutely aware of
the names as they change and grow. There are several characters and the name
alterations only complicate it.
